Here's the next chapter for you. Thanks for your reviews, they feed my mind. I'll try to update at least once a week, but somehow ff and my MacBook aren't good friends and won't always let me. Very frustrating! Enjoy and thanks for reading.

LET THE FUN BEGIN

The next morning Bobby was puttering in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. He dried his hands on a towel and glanced at his watch: it was nearly 9 am. He walked to the massive, white front door and opened it; a nervous looking teenager was staring at the imposing Bobby Goren, a bag in each hand and two suitcases on the floor. "Mr. … um… Goren," he stammered nervously, still taking in Bobby's features.

"That's me," Bobby answered softly, taking pity on the nervous boy. "Thanks for bringing our luggage," Bobby said earnestly, squinting his eyes to look at the teenager's nameplate.

"You are welcome, Sir," he muttered quietly, putting the bags on the doormat and handing Bobby the suitcase. With a nod of his head he turned around, and walked back to his red and blue van.

"Hey wait up," Bobby said and walked towards the confused boy, whom had stopped in his tracks and was now staring at Bobby whom was heading towards him. Bobby put his hand in the pocket of his jeans and took out a 5-dollar bill. He handed it to the teenager with a smile. "Thanks a lot, Sean."

"Thank you, Sir," he answered softly and smiled at Bobby. "Have a nice day."

"Thank you," Goren replied, walking back to the door, picking up the bags standing on the doormat inside. He closed the door behind him and put the entire luggage near the feet of the staircase. He'd get them up later; he didn't want to wake up Alex. When he walked back to the kitchen, the coffee has just finished brewing. He poured himself a cup and sat down behind the counter, his unfinished crossword from yesterday's New York Times in front of him.

Alex emerged half an hour later, her hair tousled. She looked like she had been in a fight with a pit-bull. Bobby eyed her worriedly and raised his eyebrows. "Rough night?" he asked sympathetically.

"I had a nightmare," she shrugged her shoulders. She walked over to him and sat down in the seat next to his. Bobby had gotten up in the meantime and was pouring her coffee. She smiled up at him and gladly accepted the offered steaming, hot cup. "Thanks."

"How's the head?" Bobby asked as he touched the back of her head, feeling the bump on her head. It was much smaller than it was the night before.

"Head's doing okay," she answered and took a large sip from her cup.

"I'm going to put your luggage in your room, if that's okay with you," he said casually, leaving the kitchen and missing Alex filling out the blanks in his crossword puzzle.

Her room was immaculate, that he had to admit. He suspected that she had been up for a while, because her bed was already made and it was wrinkled near the side, probably where she had sat down. Bobby put her luggage in front of the closet and sighed. He knew her nightmare had been more than just a simple nightmare. He suspected it had probably been about Joe. Ever since re-opening the death of her husband, she had admitted that she had more nightmares than usual. And from the looks of it, this case wasn't doing her any good. He looked around the room and his eyes fell on the book on the nightstand. When he walked closer, he felt his heart skip a beat: The book was titled 'How to deal with post-traumatic stress?' Immediately images of Alex's kidnapping more than a year ago came to mind. Had he been so locked up inside his own problems that he had missed that his partner was still dealing with her kidnapping? How could he have been so stupid to miss that all was not well with Alex, his partner and best friend. He took the book in his hand and with certain sadness in his features, he left his partner's room.

She was still sipping her coffee and staring in front of her when he came back in the kitchen. In front of her, laid his finished crossword puzzle. With a defeated sigh he sat down. She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "Something wrong?" she questioned him.

"I could ask you the same thing," he responded and laid the book in front of her.

"Oh," she sighed. "It's not what you think."

"How could I have missed that something was wrong with you?" he sighed defeated. "As your partner I should have known that you were still dealing with things," he rambled on.

"Bobby," she tried softly, but to no avail. He carried on with his rambling and incoherent mumblings, while making wide movements with his arms. She sighed deeply. "Bobby," she tried again, but he still didn't stop. She put her hand on his arm and squeezed gently. He stopped his ramblings and looked at her.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled sadly, casting his eyes to the floor.

"It's not what you're thinking, Bobby," she explained.

"I really should have seen it," he said grimly, still ignoring her.

"Bobby, STOP," he yelled and he finally stopped his movements and gave her a sheepish look. "Will you please just listen to me?" she pleaded.

"Okay," he nodded and turned his body to face her.

"It's not what you're thinking," she explained.

"It's not?" he questioned surprised. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm not having PTSD," she said earnestly.

"You're not?" he asked, the truth about how she felt and his silly behavior finally starting to sink in.

"Don't you think I would have told you?" she questioned seriously.

"I guess so," he answered and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she replied with a smile of her own.

"I guess I was worried about you," he admitted as she got up to pour them both another cup of coffee.

"It's very sweet of you to worry about me, but if something was wrong with me, I'd tell you," Alex said as she added a spoon of sugar to her cup. "Stop blaming yourself for everything, Bobby, or you'll self-destruct."

"I know," he admitted. "But I can't help worrying about you." He gratefully took the cup of coffee she offered him and took a large gulp. "Thanks," he said as he took another sip and joined her near the fridge. She was peaking inside. Bobby laid his right arm on top of the fridge and peaked inside over her shoulder. She took out some yogurt, closed the door and stood back up. It caused her to bump against Bobby, her very tall and imposing partner, also the object of her last dream. Last night hadn't been a nightmare about Joe, but had rather been a very disturbing dream in which her partner got shot and died in her arms. She had woken up in tears, but she would never tell him what she had dreamt about. She stood with her back to him for a while and slowly turned around after what seemed like an eternity.

She came face to face with Bobby, his lips curled into a mischievous grin. She grinned back at him and they just stood there staring at each other. She felt the tension in the air changing from teasing to more serious. Alex felt the butterflies fluttering in her stomach and she started to get anxious. She cared a great deal about her partner. Heck, she loved him even, but she would never tell him that. She also felt things were slowly starting to change between them, but she chickened out. "I have to get dressed," she whispered.

"Okay," Bobby whispered back, still not removing his arm and still looking at her.

She read something in his eyes that she couldn't explain; she had never seen that look in his eyes before.

I love her so much, Bobby thought, a look of total adoration on his face. He removed his arm from the fridge and watched her as she left the kitchen. Bobby let out the deep sigh he had been holding, got away from the fridge and sank down on a bar stool near the kitchen counter.

Alex was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom and took in her features. She was wearing a dark blue jeans and a light blue shirt, bringing out the color of her eyes. She brushed her teeth and applied a little makeup, looking at the result in the mirror. She thought she looked okay and smiled to herself. She turned off the lights and went back downstairs.

Bobby looked up when he heard footsteps approaching. Alex Eames walked back in the kitchen and she looked beautiful. He swallowed hard and smiled at her. "Did you finish this?" he asked, pointing to his crossword puzzle, a tinge of pride in his voice.

"I did," she replied. "I got bored."

"Uh uh," he answered, smiling when she made another trip to the fridge. She opened it and turned around.

"Stay in your seat this time," she said gently, but adamantly.

"Okay mom," he grinned foolishly and took a sip from his cup. "I can't believe you're eating again," he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Watch your mouth, buster," she grumbled playfully as she put a raspberry in her mouth. "I was expecting a home cooked breakfast from my partner this morning, but I guess he had more important things to do."

"You're right, I should have cooked us something," he said as his face turned sad. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Now Alex felt guilty. "Bobby," she sighed tiredly and crossed the kitchen to stand in front of him. "I was kidding," she said as she stood between his legs, leaning against his bar stool. "You're a real piece of work."

Bobby put his arms around her waist and gently pulled her closer to him, laying his forehead against hers. He offered her a tender smile and gently kissed her forehead, his soft breath caressing her hair. He wanted to kiss her someplace else than her forehead, but he was afraid to do so. So he simply held her with a tenderness he didn't know he possessed.

Alex's insides were melting; her stomach was turning inside out. She didn't know that her partner simply holding her would bring out these very deep and immense feelings. She was totally washed away by her love for this giant teddy bear. Of all the people in the world, she never would have guessed when they were first partnered together that she would fall so hard for another cop, especially a cop with his reputation. And she was falling harder and harder each day. Well, they were supposed to be in love as Beauty and the Beast, so maybe while they were in public she would get away with being clingy to him. They were also supposed to be working together, while secretly having a relationship, since it was frowned upon in Disneyworld.

A few minutes later, Bobby pulled away. As he did so, he placed a tender kiss on her cheek and caressed her cheekbone with his finger. She smiled at him. "I don't understand how you can be so mean and tough on the job, when in reality you're just a gentle teddy bear," she stated to no one in particular.

"Don't let anyone hear you say that, or they'll think you're a softie," he laughed out loud, gently squeezing her hand. "I'm sorry to ruin the mood, but we should get going," he explained as he looked at his watch.

"What time did we have to meet Mr. Jamison?" she inquired.

"He's expecting us between 11.30 and 12.00," Bobby said as he looked at the letter. "We should ask for him at the entrance."

"Who exactly is this Jamison?" Alex wanted to know.

"He's the head of entertainment," Bobby explained as he filled a glass of water and took a sip. "I'm really looking forward to being the Beast," Bobby murmured sarcastically.

Alex laughed out loud. "I can't wait to see you in those clothes," she chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be the hit of the Disney season."

"Maybe I won't be the hit of the season, but I'm sure it'll be a hit," Bobby replied with a teasing tone. "Are you about ready?" he asked gently as Alex took a small water bottle from the refrigerator.

"I'm good," she answered as she took a bite from a snickers. Bobby eyed her with a huge grin on her face. "What?" she asked exasperated. "I'm hungry."

"I can't believe how much you eat," he replied, snatching the snickers from her hand and taking a bite. "Good," he murmured.

"Mine," she mumbled with her mouth full and swatted his arm. "If you're hungry, take your own."

"Don't shoot me," he grinned at her and gave back her chocolate bar. "I bet you would kill someone for some sweets," he stated.

"You'd better believe it, mister," she replied and took her coat from his hands. "Thanks," she started as she pointed to the chocolate bar in her hands.

"Okay, I get it," he grumbled as he held his hands up in defense. He held her coat and with a huge grin on her face, she put her arms through the sleeves.

"You're a good boy, Bobby," she mumbled while chewing on her snickers.

"Do I get a threat?" he asked mischievously as he donned his own coat. He pulled her hat off the rack and pulled it over her ears and eyes. "Are you expecting snow, Eames?"

"Hey," she groaned as she playfully hit his arm.

"Spousal abuse, dear," he whispered in her ear, causing shivers to run through her body. To her fear, Bobby had noticed she shivered lightly. "Are you cold?" he asked nonchalantly. Alex wisely kept her mouth shut and gave him a mean and dirty look.

"If you must really know, we're not supposed to be married yet," she mumbled as she put her hat back on the rack. She watched Bobby's face turn into a huge grin, before she realized her slip of the tongue. Oops, she thought, I wasn't supposed to stay it out loud.

"Not yet?" he quipped and burst out laughing when her face turned as red as a tomato. "You're blushing," he stated.

"I'm hot," she retorted. "Let's get out of here," she added to try and save her butt, hoping he would let it go.

"It's cute," he whispered as he opened the door, hoping she wouldn't hear him. But Bobby wasn't so lucky, she had heard him all right.

"Thanks," she just said and walked out of the townhouse ahead of him. If I would really say what I'm thinking right now, he'd be shocked, she thought. I guess, some day, I'll have to tell him how I really feel, she pondered. Or it's going to eat me alive, she realized as she started to work out a plan in her head how to make her feelings clear to Bobby, without having to tell him in so many words. If he was smart enough, he would realize it without her saying anything. She let Bobby walk ahead of her and grinned mischievously.